Hey being that Breathlesssight keyed me in on the fact that I don't really know very well what to shoot at, and where to find it, I was wondering.... What kind of fish are these? Are they worth the time to clean and prepare? What's the best way to prepare them? Any suggestions/insight would help from you more experienced spearos.

Your kidding right? :slap: They are grouper! Good eating especially the red one! Eat it up.

Wait a minute, did you shoot that thing through the eyes? Where did you end up going? Those both get bigger. The smaller one gets about 7lbs max and the other Im not sure. I have seen a 5kg one but I think I saw one today that was like 20lbs+. Not sure if its the same species, it was hard to see.
GOOD FREAKIN JOB by the waY!!

No, I shot him from above, (top of the back through the gills) I usually send the stringer through the eyes. Just for the fun of it. I cleaned and froze them. I did take a small bite out of the red one, and it was pretty tasty raw. Thanks for the props. I think I kinda figured out what to look for basically. I had a couple other missed opportunities on the same or similar fish that I missed. We went down south (bad idea). Fought through pretty rough water but managed no less. Saw a manta ray out there. BTW my gun isn't performing as well as it should. I ordered new bands and new shooting line. What kind of reel can I put on my gun?

Sweet fish! That red grouper would get you a pretty penny downtown. They're pretty expensive in the fish markets. Damn good eats. At what depth did you nail those bad boys? Good job.

I think thats an eagle ray.

I don't really know what depth it was, but I didn't really go all that deep today. I think the deepest was 50 feet. I don't remember where I shot it, but as soon as I came up with the red one that's when that ray swam right over head. That thing did one good whip of the tail, and was almost too far away to take a pic. After the shark sighting I had yesterday, I thought the same shark had come back to visit when I saw the ray at first glance.

Shark? what shark? Here is a pic of a "manta ray" see the head and Tail? Its different. There are like devil horns on the manta. This guy didnt stick around for a pic either. I was in like 100ft of water for this guy. I thaught he was a shark.

man you and rob are the baby coral trout killers! let them boys get bigger:redcard::redcard:

Nice fish:toast:

Thanks brownsuit, did you get a new Wong? if not what's up with the avatar. I just hope that this weekends fish weren't just a fluke. Hope I can get more of the same or similar. We will have to see.

to each his own and i know the regs are different over there but do you ever get any larger grouper or is it fished out?

I don't know, I would say that Okinawa is well over fished, and I, to be honest, don't even know what the regulations are as far as size and weight. These are the first 2 grouper I've picked out and also shot. My standards as for what I will shoot are constantly going up. These two are my best yet.

to each his own and i know the regs are different over there but do you ever get any larger grouper or is it fished out?

i do not know the regs over there..........BUT YOU SHOULD!!

No regs on fish size here. The Okinawans have fished out pretty much every area on island. The only places to get descent fish are away from everyone up north or diving places nobody is suppost to be.

All of the fishing shops that I've been in are owned/operated by native Japanese, and I don't know Japanese. I know that a license is not required to fish but one is required to sell fish. That's it. I wonder if the game wardens out here know english, I doubt it.

Hey man, I started out w/ a 60cm beuchat and shot grouper in the 1-2 lbs range. They all got eaten and they also taught me a alot about where to look for the bigger ones.;)

in all seriousness skinny maybe you should know what fish you are shooting before you shoot it, go and buy a fish book at seasir dive shop at the makeman in american village it tells you what fish are good to eat and not to eat. It makes it seem like your kind of out there just shooting, it would be better for you to know fish names out here, so you don't shoot shit for the sake of shooting fish. those coral trout that you have is the red one, the other one is call a ROI or peacock grouper. the coral trout gets bigger than that so let them grow a bit, the roi that's about average size. myself,kev,and rob pass on the average fish now, because i like the big ones. Just FYI, man. It more about conservation, and knowing what the hell your even about to shoot.

Hell yeah, this thread has proven useful, if for no other reason than what you just said. I'll definitely do that. Makeman, that's the self help type place right? I'll find out. Thanks for the recommendation. From what I've noticed, the larger the fish, the more aware they are of me in the water. I'm going to need some more range, but I'm stuck between getting a new gun and PCS to 29 palms, so if I was to buy a new longer range gun, chances are it will sit in some sort of storage area in the desert getting no use. Believe me I'm very interested in conservation, and doing the right stuff, and by no means do I just shoot at anything. Especially now. The one time I went out with you guys, I was really watching what you all did more than anything. Trying to learn the trick of the trade. In my little circle of spearos, I'm the more experienced, and better fisherman. Still learning, and thanks again.

we'll this weekend we'll be out your welcome to join!

I would if I could. Saturday, my wife and I are going to get some water time in, because this is the first time in a while she hasn't had to work the weekend. She has expressed interest in freediving. We will, however, be up in the Northern parts of the island depending on the weather and conditions. Knowing me, I'll go up there and there will be a tsunami. haha, thanks anyway.

Good hunting.

I ordered new bands and new shooting line. What kind of reel can I put on my gun?

Any help with a reel?

a 90 is kind of short for a reel, i would really put on on there. it's just doesn't have the necessary range and usefulness for a reel, but aimrite makes a reel for their guns not cheap though.

a 90 is kind of short for a reel, i would really put on on there. it's just doesn't have the necessary range and usefulness for a reel, but aimrite makes a reel for their guns not cheap though.

I sometimes shoot a fish, and it will either go into a cave or hole, or I'll miss completely, and my spear will get lodged in a rock, sometimes forcing me to let go of my gun when I'm low on air, and I just don't feel all that comfortable letting go of my gun when this sort of thing happens. Come to think of it, I'll still have to go down to my spear and dislodge it if this does continue to happen. hmmmm:confused:

As far as the range is concerned, I definitely understand that. With my limited range I probably won't be hitting those large fish that like to stay just out of my range. FU*#ERS.

The weather looks pretty nasty this weekend. Still going out?

I'll see if my wife still wants to SCUBA, if not, I'll probably go spearing. It would be better, however, if my bands would get here.

Hell yeah we are. As long as the water isn't too rough.

it can't be bad on both sides of the island/

Brad its a free for all over there,..atleast when i was there the Japanese eat everything that moves in the water and some stuff that doesn't move. Tuna and Mahi all the pelagics were pretty plentiful and you could sell one fish in town and pay for your trip

Any of you OKi guys ever seen one of those little rock shrimp over there that will snap the hell out of your finger? I saw the mamma sans near okuma prying all sorts of stuff off the rocks one a.m. i dove out and watched,..i thought cool i will get some of those shrimp,..i picked one up and it felt like i had been hit with a hammer,....bought shrimp at the commissary after that

HAHA I have three pronged a couple when I was looking for lobster but never grabbed one.

What kind of fish are these?

They look like a Red Hind and a Rock Hind Groupers to me, but this is a guess. Who knows the right answer?

check this quiz out.

http://www.wadespage.com/PBFQ_15.shtml

Sometimes its tough seeing that groupers have chameleon like abilities

Hell yeah, that quiz is awesome.